Canoe Slalom at Manchester Canoe Club

The club has approximately twenty training gates permanently hung over the river. These can be used for casual use by members at any time. Floodlighting of the site at night means it can be used all year round.

We have several formal and informal training sessions throughout the week, some open to all and others are closed groups. To express your interest in slalom please contact Mark Davies at slalom@manchestercanoeclub.org.uk and/or visit our ‘Manchester Canoe Club’ or ‘MCC Slalom’ Facebook pages.

Open Sessions

Open sessions are those that coincide with the Tuesday evening (7:30 pm onwards) and Sunday morning (10am to 12pm) general club sessions. During these sessions the river will be shared with other club paddlers so some communication between paddlers will be needed to agree on which parts of the site will be used for slalom.

The Thursday 7:30 pm onwards session is just for slalom and session is organised by the coaches/experienced paddlers on the night around the paddlers that turn up. Depending on numbers these sessions may be split into two or three groups using different sections of the river and focusing on different skills.

All these sessions are open to all regardless of experience or skill and you can train in whatever kayak you are comfortable (we don't recommend trying in an open canoe though!). The club also has a fleet of carbon/kevlar racing spec K1, C1 and C2 slalom boats in a wide range of sizes for both juniors and adults. Of course some of the top paddlers will be training quite intensively (when not chatting in the eddies), but we will always make room for all abilities.

Closed Sessions

Closed sessions are those run by our club slalom coaches and include the following sessions:

Monday evening 7:30 to 8:30 all year. This is targeted at Div 2 paddlers and beyond and is run in two groups by Ashlee Dack and Tom Carlisle.

Tuesday and Thursday evening, 6:30 to 7:30 is the Marlins. This is aimed at junior paddlers, Division 4 (beginner) to Division 3 paddlers. Equipment, including boat, paddle, buoyancy aid, helmet and deck is provided and weekly, all year round coaching. Paddlers are divided up into one of three coaching groups depending on skill level. A £40 biannual subscription is required for the Marlins. See the Marlins page for more details.